648 I'oniaiidcr Collection of Hazcaiiaii Folk-lore. 



After the main things of the house have been finished it is proper to bake a 

 pig and food, and celebrate with a feast for the completed labors ; such a feast is called 

 aliaaina konio hale (feast of house entering). 



This is what I have obtained concerning the construction of a house and what 

 to do. But I have heard of rules in regard to sleeping in the house and the regula- 

 tions bv Hawaiians. 



1. Fix a fireplace. The reason for doing this is to make the house complete and 

 warm, so that when one becomes cold he moves over to the fireplace to sleep. 



2. Always sleep in the middle'" of the house. The reason for this is the fear 

 of death should a murderer stab with a stick from the outside. Then again, tie hogs 

 outside of the house, so that if a robber came, the hogs would be affrighted and grunt, 

 thus causing the persons inside the house to awaken. If there is a dog, it sleeps to- 

 gether [with persons in the house]. The reason for this is so that if a robber came 

 into the house and choked the sleeper, then the dog would awaken and bite the evil- 

 doer. That is how the Hawaiians became accustomed to sleeping together with dogs. 



3. Concerning eating. There are many different times when the Hawaiian eats, 

 midnight, evening or morning. The place where the calabashes are set aside is the side 

 of the house, so that on awakening [one could] eat if hungry. Hawaiians are not ac- 

 customed to eating together ; this one and that one eats as he is hungered ; and that is 

 being done at this time. 



4. Concerning sleeping. In sleeping, the father, mother and children lie togeth- 

 er. Sometimes the children sleep in the middle and sometimes on the sides. All sleep 

 under one kapa. Perhaps there are many other things, but this is what I have obtained. 



J. Hooiivi. 



METHODS OF HOUSE CONSTRUCTION. 



Varied and numerous were the houses constructed in Hawaii in the olden time. 

 Concerning houses of grass : Some houses of grass in the olden time were good and 

 were large, but the majority were not large nor were they good. Most of the houses 

 of that time were low and small. 



If a person desired to construct a house it was done in this manner: the owner 

 of the house prepared the foundation by leveling the ground. Holes were then dug 

 for the four corner posts to the proper depth when these posts were set in ; small stones 

 and dirt were tamped in until they were firmly fixed. Stretch a line from one post to 

 another, and indicate along it the places for digging holes for the intervening posts. 

 Then dig there until all the holes are completed. In erecting the posts, set them in line 

 with the corner posts. Implant them as firmly as the corner posts; those on the op- 

 posite side being erected in like manner. When all the posts are in position, the plate 

 is placed from corner to corner. The line of posts on the rear side, however, is the 

 one erected first. Fasten the plate with rope on the two sides. In the middle of the 



"The word I'Uikia (cling to the post), so applicahle (kia) as a safe-guard against niglit prowler's thrusts 



for all sorts of trouble, is said lo have had its origin through the thatching, 



from iho necessity of sleeping with heads to the post 



